EPSB addresses teachers’ pay demands

Teachers filled the meeting room, as well as the hallways, of the Evangeline Parish School Board Media Center Wednesday night to ask for the return of “step increases.”
According to Superintendent Toni Hamlin, the passage of the controversial ACT I by the Legislature tied all increases to performance, thereby removing “step increases,” which were based largely on the teacher’s education level and length of employment or seniority.
Some educators have argued that there are still school districts providing “step increases” under ACT I and have been vocal about wanting the school board and superintendent to find a way to get teachers the increases they deserve.
However, Hamlin, speaking to the school board and the numerous teachers in the audience, stated “We can’t separate ‘step increases’ from performance pay.” Although Hamlin did state that she is committed to at least restructuring how performance pay is determined by changing which variables are more important. For example, the parish has the ability to structure this performance pay based on several factors. Each factor impacts increases by a percentage. So student performance could make up 25 percent of the increase, while seniority will make up another 25 percent. Hamlin stated that no single factor is allowed to make up more than 50 percent of the increase structure. Hamlin then proposed forming a committee that could look at eight different increase models to eventually determine which would work best and be most fair for employees.
“We need to see how to structure this so that it is in compliance with ACT I,” Hamlin said. “We need some way to compensate for and reward longevity and the teachers in this system need to be rewarded. We have already begun the work and I made a commitment to do this. We have to put ‘step increases’ out of our minds. We need to look at how it is structured.”
Hamlin also briefly mentioned that there has been little room in the budget to assist with increasing teacher pay, stating 88 percent of the parish’s budget goes toward employee salaries, with only 12 percent left for “everything else.”
Board President Wayne Dardeau addressed teachers in the audience, stating, “If there’s money available, then we want you to get it.” Dardeau also told teachers that the best thing they could do to help themselves is contact their representative and give their input on what changes they would like to see made to ACT I.
There was some good news for teachers during the meeting, with the Evangeline Parish School Board’s Chief Financial Officer Amy Lafleur announcing how excess sales taxes would be distributed. Lafleur said that full-time, degreed personnel will receive $3,196.87, while full-time support personnel will receive $1,438.59. She added those employees working less than half of their contracts will receive half of the payment for their position. To be eligible for this distribution, employees had to be actively employed during the 2013-2014 fiscal year and still actively employed. Those who were on leave without pay or worker’s compensation are not eligible. Anyone employed by the district in 2013-2014, but who is no longer employed will not receive a distribution check. Finally, any person hired after June 30, 2014, will not receive a check. These checks will be distributed to employees of the Evangeline Parish School District on November 21.